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Minor Book Mentions
The following is a list of Muppet Mentions made in books outside of the Henson/Sesame fold, which are too brief or minor to constitute having their own page in the Book Mentions category. A Child's Introduction to Ballet This instructional picture book written by Laura Lee and illustrated by Meredith Hamilton includes a line of trivia on the back cover: "Which famous ballet dancer did a duet with Miss Piggy on The Muppet Show? (page 81)" The answer is Rudolf Nureyev. Cinegeek Cinegeek is a 2017 book of "Fun Trivia Tidbits Celebrating the Cinematic World" written and illustrated by Pluttark. Page 10 consists of "Animated Films Featuring Puppets: Not Recommended for Younger Viewers" and includes The Dark Crystal as well as Team America and Meet the Feebles (which are not animated but do feature puppets). Page 50 features "Actors Who've Played Gods in the Movies" including Whoopi Goldberg as The Boss in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. Eleanor & Park In the 2012 novel by Rainbow Rowell, while talking to Park on the phone, Eleanor says she and her brother were watching Fraggle Rock. Ghostwritten Chapter 3, "Hong Kong", of this novel by David Mitchell contains a couple of mentions. In particular, one evening the narrator (of that chapter) notes one liasion during which Sesame Street is on the television in the background. (It specifically mentions watching Big Bird, Ernie, and Bert sing a song about a magic E that makes the A say its name. See page 90 to 91 of the paperback version of the book. Also the word Fraggle is used in Chapter 9 "Night Train", see p. 384 of the paperback version. Gone With the Gin Tim Federle's 2015 book of movie-inspired cocktail recipes includes "The Muppets Make Manhattans". Goodnight Gorilla In Peggy Rathmann's children's book, the armadillo at the zoo has an Ernie doll in his cage. The Harvard Mystique On the front cover of the book, the title briefly read "The Harvard Mystique: The Power Syndrome That Affects Our Lives, From Sesame Street To The White House". TheHarvardMystique.jpg| The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Kevin Clash is mentioned among the notable people who were raised in Turner Station, Maryland. Henriettalacks.jpg Inside Larry & Sergey's Brain In Richard L Brandt's biography of Larry Page and Sergey Brin there are at least two minor Muppet mentions. On page 3 he writes describing Larry Page "He rarely volunteers to answer questions unless specifically asked to address them. When he does, it's with a methodical intonation that sounds like a baritone version of Kermit the Frog". Then on page 53, while describing the formation of Page and Brin's company Google he writes "The first person they brought in, Craig Silverstein, is a computer geek in their own spiritual image. He looks the part. Short and slender, with a Stan Laurel chin and a usually shy demenour, in his spare time he runs an online fansite about Muppets." Kids Are Weird: And Other Observations from Parenthood A page from Jeffrey Brown's comedy book features a child's reaction to the Elton John episode of The Muppet Show. Kids-are-weird.JPG King Dork A 2006 young adult novel by Frank Portman, King Dork follows the adventures of a high-school sophomore named Tom Henderson during the craziest semester of his life. While watching two competing goth metal bands at his high school's Festival of Lights, Tom tells the reader that "both singers were trying as hard as they could to impersonate the Cookie Monster". Kissing Bill O'Reilly, Roasting Miss Piggy "Hate - Roasting Miss Piggy" is featured on pages 205 to 206. The author prefaces his comments by stating that "Jim Henson is a genius, not a word I use lightly." He goes on to describe Frank Oz and his various Muppet performances. In regard to Miss Piggy, he states that she is the "... most popular Muppet and the least funny, most obnoxious yet bland, culturally influential of Henson's creations." He also laments her "trilled catchphrase" — Moi? — and comments that he would "like nothing more than to see her roasted on an invented garbage-can-top platter held aloft by Oscar the Grouch, a rotten apple stuffing her mouth into silence." Little Brother In chapter 12, the main character, Marcus, purchases "a T-shirt that had a Photoshop image of Grover and Elmo kicking the grown-ups Gordon and Susan off Sesame Street," as part of the growing "Don't Trust Anyone Over 25" popularity. Never Can Say Goodbye Subtitled Writers on Their Unshakable Love for New York, this 2014 book includes 27 essays from famous personages (mostly writers) about New York City. In "City of Mundane Fantasy", Elliott Kalan writes of his childhood affection for the mundanities of Manhattan life: commuting on the subway, working in an office, wearing a suit and tie. He relates that his first exposure to this was in The Muppets Take Manhattan, when Kermit the Frog was afflicted with amnesia and became mundane businessfrog Phil. The Order of the Stick The Order of the Stick is a webcomic but a handful of books have been published, some with original content. Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tales In a parody of Hamlet, the play-within-a-play called The Murder of Gonzago is confused by Elan for The Murder of Gonzo. He's horrified to hear of the murder and thinks Camilla would be upset that it was turned into a play so soon after the event. Playing with Power On the front cover of Marsha Kinder's book, the title read "Playing with Power in Movies, Television, and Video Games: From Muppet Babies to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and in the book's official description, it read: PlayingwithPower.jpg| The Schoolkids Joke Book This joke book compiled by Brough Girling (ISBN 0-00-692861-7), published by Collins in 1988 contains two Muppet jokes. On p68 there is a joke by Caroline Green from Bovingdon School, Hemel Hempstead which reads "Q. Where Does Kermit keep his money? A. In a Miss Piggy Bank". While on p103 is a joke by Victoria Ladds, from Carlton School, Boston which reads "Q. What do you get if you cross Miss Piggy with itching poweder? A. Pork Scratchings". Slice of Life A collection of short stories by Shaun Mehta, one of the short stories is titled "Sesame Street." Smiles to Go On pages 246-247, near the end of the book during the graduation of the kids moving into the first grade, Kermit the Frog was heard singing "Rainbow Connection". ﻿ The Time Traveler's Wife On page 104 of Audrey Niffenegger's 2003 novel, Henry describes Clare's sculpture of tiny wisps and purple paper as "a cross between a Muppet and a bird's nest." This Town Will Never Let Us Go In this Faction Paradox novel by Lawrence Miles, one of the signs of Faction Paradox's influence on the timeline of a suburban town is the existence of an episode of The Muppet Show in which the guest star is George Orwell. One skit is a pastiche of the Room 101 scene from 1984, featuring Rizzo the Rat, and the show ends with a musical number based on Animal Farm in which Miss Piggy storms out saying "I guess some animals are more equal than others!" ﻿ __NOWYSIWYG__ Category:Book Mentions